Japan's SoftBank Group, an internet services firm has acquired artificial intelligence chipmaker Graphcore for an undisclosed sum, ending long-running speculation over the firm's future. Britain's Graphcore has struggled to secure the necessary investment to compete, despite being touted as a rival to Nvidia, whose own valuation has skyrocketed as a result of rising demand for AI computer chips.

 

A filing that was made public the previous year revealed that Graphcore required more cash to break even after cutting its headcount by a fifth to 494 employees and ceasing operations in Norway, Japan, and South Korea. The company will be valued at $2.77 billion at the end of 2020. Nigel Toon, CEO and cofounder of Graphcore, acknowledged that the company had faced challenges but stated that the SoftBank deal would provide the company with the resources necessary to compete globally.

 

"The piece that surprised us was the speed at which this has taken off, and the scale that is involved," Toon said.

 

"This is a level of investment that is utterly massive. Graphcore, as a modestly-sized company compared to those we're competing with, has actually managed to go toe-to-toe and build world-class technology."

 

SoftBank Group Corp. is an investment management-focused multinational investment holding company with headquarters in Minato, Tokyo. The majority of the group's investments are in technology-based businesses that provide goods and services to customers in a wide range of markets and industries, including automation and the internet. The largest technology-focused venture capital fund in the world is SoftBank's Vision Fund, which started with over $100 billion in capital.